Stephen Rowley Montague (born March 10, 1943 in Syracuse, New York) is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida. Musical Statement "I write music to engage an audience, to seduce them sometimes by stealth with something they know, then taking them somewhere they may never have been. I'm a maverick and, like Henry Cowell, want to live in the whole world of music, not just one corner. My works range from the simple vernacular through high classical to the avant-garde. Variety is my oxygen." ~ Stephen Montague Background Born in Syracuse, New York in 1943, Stephen Montague lived in Albion, Idaho from 1947-51, where his father, Dr. Richard Montague (1916-2015) was Head of Music at Southern Idaho College of Education. From 1952-57, they lived in Fairmont, West Virginia where his father was a Professor of Music at Fairmont State College, now University, and went on to become Professor of Music at St. Petersburg College, Florida from 1959-1982. Stephen Montague's brother Dr. John Montague (b. 1944- ) is Director of Buffalo Maritime Center, New York. Education After studying piano, conducting and composition at Florida State University B.M 1965 with Honors, M.M 1967, Stephen Montague received a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from Ohio State University in 1972. He did additional study in conducting at the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, 1966, computer music at IRCAM, Paris, 1981, and at Stanford University, California, 1984. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship/Polish Cultural Grant to work at the Experimental Music Studio of Polish Radio, Warsaw, Poland, 1972–74. Career Montague was born and educated in the US, but lived in Warsaw, Poland (1972–74) on a Fulbright Fellowship, and since 1974 in London working as a freelance composer, pianist, conductor touring worldwide. His music has been performed at numerous international festivals, including the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Royal Festival Hall, the Warsaw Autumn festival, the Paris Festival d'Automne, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Bang On a Can (NYC), Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore Festivals. He has been commissioned by such sources as the BBC Proms, the Royal Festival Hall (London), Barbican Centre (London), New Music Biennale (UK), Birmingham Royal Ballet (UK), the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Royal Ballet (UK), British Telecom (for the London Symphony Orchestra), the Trans Atlantic Arts Consortium (UK/US), the Calgary Philharmonic (Canada), the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra,